Toy vehicle



S. L BERG ER TOY vmucm:

July 31, 1934.

Filed Nov. 29, 1953 2' Sheets-Sheet 1 8 LKGHTS OFF MOTOR MO OR? LIGHT I l f 2M MM M W5 m MMIM 7M S. l. BERGER TOY VEHICLE Filed Nov. 29. 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented July 31, 1934 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOY VEHICLE Samuel I. Berger, Newark, N. J. Application November 29, 1933, Serial No. 700,173

6 Claims. (Cl.'46 48 V This invention relates o y d more p of the chassis of the toy automobile taken ticularly to toy vehicles which are self-propelled through lines of Fig, 1,

by spring, electric, or other means. Fig. '1 represents a fragmentary perspective Such Self-propelled frequently collide With view of the member for supporting and. electri- '.,5 various objects so that the toy chassis is subally connecting the headlights, 60 je ed o c d a Stress and Strain, P Fig. 8 represents anexploded view of the parts cially at the front end. used to reenforce the front end of the chassis and t s an je of y invention to Provide a to fix the front wheels of the toy in either of means for reenforcing the chassis of a toy vethree positions,

10 h l a c p ra m ans f r curing the Fig. 9 re resents detached perspective views 65 front wheels of the toy in any one of several pof theswitch, and contact plates,

sitions to thereby fix the courseof travel of the Fig. represents a fragmentary perspective toy. I view of the chassis and battery carrier, parts A further O j of my i ve t on is to provide being broken away for the sake of clarity, and

a toy vehicle having structural features designed Fig. 11 represents a diagrammatic viewshow- 9 to reduce the cost of manufacture to a minimum ing the preferred form of wiring and battery and to make the toy sufiiciently simple in operahook-up of my invention. I tion to enableit to be operated without any diifi- For the purpose of illustrating my invention, C y y C d a d sllfiiciently ugged to With- I have shown in the accompanying drawings, a stand the rough treatment to which such toys are toy automobile which is self-propelled by means 7 subjected. of batteries, but it will be apparent and it is in- A further object of my invention is to provide tended that my invention is not limited therea carrier for batteries of toys, of novel and sim to, but is equally well adapted for use in connecple structure. tion With other forms of toy vehicles, as will be 25. A further object of my invention is to provide apparent to any one versed in the art upon a 80 a novel switch for toys having electric circuits. reading of the specification. I

A further object of my invention is to provide The automobile shown in the drawings, coma novel arrangement for electrically connecting prises a chassis 1 (see Figs. 1 and 2) preferably the light bulbs of a toywith a source of electric made from a single piece of suitable inexpensive circuit by the use of only one wire. metal, which is preferably provided with .mar- 85 A further object of my invention is to provide ginal channels 2 (see Figs. 6 and 10). A revarious novel and efiicient parts for the toy to enforcing-plate 3 v(see Fig. 8) is secured to the simplify its construction and make it more efliunderside of the chassis by any suitable means, cient and durable in operation. preferably by providing the plate 3 with prongs These and other advantageous objects which f1: which are struckup therefrom, and are sheared 9 will later appear, are accomplished by the simple half way through the chassis 1, within aligned and practical construction and arrangement of prongs 5 struck up from the chassis (see Fig. 2). parts hereinafter described and exhibited in the The plate 3 is further provided with marginal accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, channels 6 which are nestled within the marand in which: ginal channels 2 of the chassis 1 as shown in 95 Fig. 1 represents a bottom plan View of a toy Fig. 6. automobile made in accordance with my inven- It has been found, in practice, that the retion, enforcing plate thus described is efiicient and Fig. 2 represents a fragmentary top. plan view effectively reenforces the front end of the chasof the chassis thereof, showing the switch in s, W hiS, in the Ordinary use Of the y most 100 detail, frequently subjected to stresses and strains.

Fig. 3 represents a transversevertical sectional In the preferred form of y invention, o e view taken on lines 3-3 of Fig. 2, pair of wheels 8 of the device are secured to an Fig. 4 represents a perspective view of a tail axle 9 which pa ses through the C a e s 2 0f light plate and also a vertical sectional view the chassis 1 and is driven by motivating'means thereof, 10 of the motor 11, while the other pair of wheels Fig. 5 represents aperspective View of the ra- 12 are preferably carried by the bracket 13 (see diator and headlights of the toy automobile, Fig. 8) to which the head of a pin 14 is secured, parts being broken away for the sake of clarity, the pin being provided with a portion 15 which.

Fig. 6- represents a transverse sectional view freely passes through an aperture 16in the plate 110 3 and an aligned aperture in the chassis and is then secured to the bowed spring 17 which bears upon the upper surface of the plate 3 (see Fig. 6).

The bracket 13 is provided with raised portions 18 which are designed to snap into any of the three pairs of apertures 7 in the plate 3, to position the wheels 12 in a plane either parallel with that of the chassis or at a left or right angle thereto. By this arrangement the wheels 12 may be positioned in either of three positions and it will be held against accidental displacement by the tension of the spring 1'? as well as the registry of the raised portions 13 of the bracket 13 with the apertures '7 of the plate 3 (see Fig. 6). The plate 3 is further provided with fingers 19 over which tabs 20 of the radiator shell 21 may be clinched to hold the lower end of the radiator 21 in place, as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be obvious that the arrangement described may be used with equal eflicacy in connection with any toy vehicle. However, in the form shown in the drawings, the arrangement is used in connection with a toy which is provided with a plurality of batteries 50 which are positioned on the underside of the chassis and are carried by the carrier plate 51 which is provided with marginal flanges22, which overlap the flanges '25 of the chassis channel 2, as shown in Fig. 10. The plate 51 is further provided with transverse beads 23 which terminate just short of the flanges 22, at 24, thereby providing means for engaging both sides of the marginal flanges 25 of the channel 2. The carrier 51 is further provided with depressed portions 26 adapted to snap into recesses 27 in the flange 25 of the channel 2 as shown in Fig. 1, to normally hold the carrier in position to support all of the batteries.

A pair of ground contact plates 28, 28 are secured to an insulation sheet 29 by any suitable means such as by prongs 30, 30 integral with the plates 28, 28' and clinchedover the sheet 29, the latter being secured to the chassis 1 by any suitable means as by chassis prongs 31.

The positive terminal of the battery 36 is electrically connected to the bulbs 3'7 by means of a wire 38 which at one end is secured to the contact 33 on insulation sheet 58 and at the other end is secured to plate 40 against which the positive terminals 41 of the bulbs 3'7 are adapted to bear when the bulbs are screwed into tubular socket members which are preferably integral with the bulb reflectors 45. Strip 40 is preferably made of any suitable conducting material and is secured between the sheets of insulation 42 by any suitable means as by prongs 43 integral with the strip 40 and clinched over the sheet of insulation 42, the latter being carried in the channel member 44 which carriesthe bulb reflectors 45. The member 44 is positioned withinrecesses 46 in the side walls of the radiator shell 21 and is provided with prongs 4'7 aligned with thesi'de walls of the radiator shell 21 and adapted to frictionally bear against the inside of the motor hood to make the structure more rigid.

The negative or ground terminal of the battery 36 as shown in Fig. 3, is frictionally engaged by the depending flange 48 of the contact plate 28".

The batteries 50 are adapted to actuate the motor 11 and the positive terminal of the first of the batteries 50 engages the contact 39' on insu- "lation sheet 58, the contact being connected to the'motor ll'by means of the wire 52, while the negative terminal of the last of the batteries 50, as shown in Fig. 11, is frictionally engaged by the depending flange 48 of the contact plate 28, a strip of insulation 53 being positioned between the depending flanges of the contact plates 28 and 28, as shown in Fig. 9. A spring member 57 is secured to an insulation sheet 58 on the underside of the chassis, and electrically connects the three batteries 50 as may be clearly seen-in Fig. .11. In addition, the spring member '5'? holds all of the batteries in contact position in the carrier plate 51. The rod 58 maintains the insulation sheets 53, 58 in spaced relation.

The ground contact switch shown in 9 is swivelly connected at one end to the chassis 1 by means of a rivet 33 (see Fig. 2) or the like passing through the sheet 29, the other end of the switch extending outwardly beyond the chassis 1.. The switch is further provided with the spring finger 35 integral therewith and adapted to have sliding contact engagementwith either of the plates 28, 28 or with both of the plates, in an intermediate position, or to be moved clear of the plates. Thus when the switch is in the position C, the spring finger 350i the switch will contact with the contact-plate 28- thereby providing a ground for the battery 36 and causing the bulbs 37 to light. Ithas been found in-practice however, that whenthe toy is operated, the bulbs 3Tmay flicker upon the jarring of the toy which intermittently breaks the ground connection of the member 44. To prevent this, a flexible strip of metal 44 is secured, at one end, to the channel 44, the free end of'the strip at all times frictionally engaging; the radiator shell 21.

When the switch is in-the position A shown in Fig. 2 the batteries-50 will be grounded as the switch contact finger 35 will then engage the contact plate 28 and when the switch is in the position B shown in Fig. 2 the switch contact finger 1-15 35 will bear upon the adjacent portions of both contact plates 28 and 28' so that the bulbs 37 will be lit and the motor 11 will be actuated. The position D in Fig. 2 is the off position of the switch.

If desired, the automobile chassis may be provided with a stop light 53 connected-with the battery 36, or the toy maybe provided with-a combined license and tail light plate 54' preferably stamped from a single strip of material of the configuration shown in Fig. 4 and secured to the rear bumper 55 of the vehicle by any suitabie means such as by a rivet or the like passing through the plate 54 and the bumper 55. The plate 54 is provided with an open boss 54' into which a metallic disc 55, which may be painted 13() red, may be first positioned from the rear and then by forcing the material of the plates 54 over the disc 54 as shown at 56, in Fig. 4, the disc will be securely held within the plate.

The foregoing disclosure is to be regarded as 135 de criptive and illustrative, and not as restrictive or limitative of the invention, of which obviously an embodiment may be constructed including modifications, without departing from the general scope herein indicated and denotedin the 140 appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a toy vehicle having a chassis provided 145 with marginal channels, a reenforcing plate having complementary marginal channels nestled within the marginally channelledchassis.

2. In a toy vehicle having'a chassis provided with marginal channels, a reenforcing plate'having complementary marginal channels nestled within the marginally channelled chassis, and means for securing the plate to the chassis.

3. In a toy vehicle having a chassis provided with an aperture, a bracket carrying a pair of wheels, said bracket being provided with a pin passing through the aperture in the chassis and a bowed spring secured to the pinand bearing upon the chassis.

4. In a toy vehicle having a chassis provided with marginal channels,'a reenforcing plate having complementary marginal channels nestled within the marginally channelled chassis, a bracket carrying a pair of wheels swivelly secured to the chassis, said bracket and reenforcing plate having complementary means for securing the bracket in one of several positions relatively to the reenforcing plate.

5. In a toy vehicle, a plate provided with an open boss, and a disc of a color difierent from that of the plate, inserted into the open boss from one side thereof, the material of the plate being forced over the disc to secure the same within the boss.

6. In a toy vehicle, a plate provided with an open boss, and a disc inserted into the open boss from one side thereof, the material of the plate being forced over the disc to secure the same within the boss.

SAMUEL I. BERGER. 

